I have always been an existentialist and always have loved a multitude of options in my life. I

In the Philosophy, Determinism has many different categories. Actually according to the textbook, the Determinism is the view that every event, including human actions, are brought about by previous events in accordance with the natural laws that govern the world. Human freedom is an illusion. Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza does not deny that people’s wishes and desires will lead to the soul, and he said, "but neglected one important

Kierkegaard goes on to define what it means to experience despair. Only the “lowliest, least endowed person can despair” (E/O Handout). In other words, the one that abandons commitment to their own life is the one that experiences despair. He goes on to explain that to choose absolutely is to choose despair and he “chooses himself, not in his immediacy, but chooses himself in his eternal validity” (E/O 78). By choosing despair, the person realizes there is a disruption between how one truly absorbs the world they live in and how our perception is used in pursuit of happiness and pleasure. Despair can be understood as the vehicle for an aesthetic person to get back to an ethical life. Specifically, given the right means, the aesthetic person can be more conscientious of the disconnect between one’s absorption of the world and how they pursue happiness. To an extent,

I thought that Baron d’Holbach summarized the determinists viewpoint when he said, “Man’s life is a line that nature commands him to describe upon the surface of the earth, without ever being able to swerve from it, even for an instant. He is born without his own consent; his organization does in nowise depend upon himself; his ideas come to him involuntarily; his habits are in the power of who cause him to contract them; he is unceasingly modified by causes, whether visible or concealed, over which he has no control, which necessarily regulate his mode of existence, give the hue to his way of thinking, and determine his manner of acting” (Chaffee, 2013, p. 178).

(Existentialism: We as humans have some control over our own destinies. We may not be able to choose our situations (like where and when and what colour we are born) but we can choose how we live our lives and what we do with them. For instance, when Winston has to face the fact that John is leaving in 3 months and he is only leaving in 10 years,

When death presents itself, we do not know how react but with despair and for a brief

Kierkegaard: It is a natural thing for all humans to have a natural need to formulate a life-view. No matter the intelligence level, skill level, or whether the person is a beggar, an average person, or a king, every person has the need to conceive of one. Human life is inherently ambiguous. What is the point of life, of living, if one is cursed with the knowledge and truth of the fact that one is just going to die anyway? The very knowledge such information, as

mei shows her rebellions strongly. Her mother wants her to be obedient and follow her

There are also decisions I make based not on specific laws I have for myself but based on judgment and what I think is the right move for the situation.

Death, portrayed in darkness as “the great unknown, the gravest of all misfortunes,” is also referred to by Freud as “the aim of all life (Freudfile.org).” A human's reaction to the impact of death varies in many ways. In numerous situations regarding death, one's attitude may have different results. Freud says “it is one's unconscious that is the cause of most of one's beliefs and behaviors, or even feelings in relation to death (Freudfile.org).” The idea of death is inaccessible and for those who conceptualize the idea of suicide, it is a form of self destruction, the personal infliction of one's life. Those who fall victim to suicidal aspirations search for light in the world while living in a state of depressive darkness. The author

Death is a certainty of every human life. Brought on by old age and sickness, death is a major fear throughout the lifetime of many people. In the modern day, death is often seen as the penultimate end to existence. However, Soren Kierkegaard, in Sickness Unto Death, claims that there is everlasting life after death. Thus, rather than fearing death itself, one should fear the state of Despair. Kierkegaard defines this Despair as an imbalance within the human self or identity that prevents the individual from reaching everlasting life. This state of Despair is a universal, defining component of what it means to be a human. Although seemingly hopeless, the state

Benjamin Franklin once said, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” We are all born to die. We go through life trying to make ourselves known in the world, to feel important but in the end, we all end up the same--dead. There is no way of avoiding death, it is inevitable. Existentialism is a complex philosophy emphasizing the absurdity of reality and the human responsibility to make choices and accept consequences. Albert Camus’ The Stranger is about a man who shows no emotion at his mother’s funeral and ends up killing an Arab man and is put on trial for it. Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is a short story about a man who wakes up one morning as a bug and his family pushes him

Beyond the idea of individual existence, existentialists also embrace individual freedom to self-determine and create yourself in the world. People should not be expected to act according to any perceived universal ideal but to act as they choose within their own beliefs. This results in people living as their true selves. As a result of this idea, people would hold total responsibility for their actions. The existentialist would reject that a person is chained by their nature or should act to meet the standards of some outside entity, organization, or belief system. In my opinion, this is one of the strengths of existentialist ideas in that an individual’s decisions are their own in all ways. They cannot, and should not, shirk responsibility for any actions because they had to act in accordance with a particular belief system, orders from authority, or because of urges to do so. Assuming the individual is of sound mind, if following existentialist ideals, they can rest assured that they are where the “buck stops” for accountability. However, this results in two issues. The first is that by following this ideal outlined by existentialists, are you acting freely of your own accord or are you just trying to follow the ideals of others and only acting in an incorrectly perceived freedom? The second being that if we are each acting in accordance with our own

“Why do we exist? What is the purpose of our life? What is our relation to the world and to other people?” (Gravail, Richard 7). These are the types of questions raised in the heart of philosophy. Existentialism is simply a philosophical approach that focuses on human freedom and responsibilities. Moreover, I agree with the philosophical position on mankind presented in Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Existentialism.” Man will be what he plans to be, solely depending on his will. Man creates himself and his future because he has full control of the choices he makes. Lastly, the existence of God would not make a difference in the world. From the past century, existentialism has greatly impacted the western culture.

Life is a conglomerate of suffering, anguish, and pain. For this reason, every individual desires to find a way to cope with life’s brutal trails, whether that be the duties and chores of mere existence or suffering and pain. Some crave a rational, structured explanation to life while others willingly take the leap of faith into religion to explain the formidable world in which we live. Whether one believes that life has a preordained meaning from the origin of a God or if we are just living matter sitting on a globe spinning in the universe will influence how one lives his or her life. There are different approaches to how to cope with the challenges of life: Albert Camus with influences of Jean Paul Sartre paints an atheist existentialist picture in The Plague, and Kelly Clark with themes of Soren Kierkegaard, in When Faith Is Not Enough, describes the Christian approach to conquering life. Together, both pieces of text, directly and indirectly address these challenges of existence.

Everything in life involves uncertainty. None can rule over her/ his birth or death. But the only space given to her or him is the time in between life and death. In many of the cases before knowing what is life as such it comes to an end. None can deny reality. The core of Existentialism teaches that Man should live his life as he knows and as he wishes and it becomes his responsibility whether to attach meaning to it or not.